Allen K. Lair

Along with our recent basement renovations I’ve been overhauling the studio converting everything to digital, including replacing my big analog mixing board with a digital board.  Granted the analog board I was using wasn’t by any means the greatest, but replacing everything in the recording chain – at least as much as possible – with digital equipment and replacing the mixing board with a decent digital board with decent very usable pre-amps has made a world of difference.

Comparing the recordings of the album I’m currently working on with one I just finished was both a good and bad experience.  The latest recording is so distinctly clear compared to the others, I’m going to have to re-record at least five of the six other recordings as they just sound dull in comparison.  I’ve recently replaced my piano with one of Yamaha’s better stage pianos, so all the piano recordings will need to be redone as well.

All the new toys are one thing but it really is all about the music.  All the techno-gee-wiz is really just eye candy if you don’t actually enjoy the process and I really am enjoying the composing and recording process, and getting good results from the equipment is certainly icing on the cake.  Once the basement renovations are done we should have a nice tidy little studio in the basement.  Eventually it would be nice to get some local artists in and do some of the same recording and producing I did in Ottawa but for now it’s mostly just me.

Freedom Chains

Two years after the release of “Freedom Chains” everything is finally set up and online.  If everything goes as planned it should show up on iTunes and and several other online shops by the middle of the coming week.  Physical CDs can be purchased through CDBaby or even just directly from me.  As of this writing they won’t actually have any CDs in stock but I expect they should be available within a week or so.

I’ll be honest it’s a bit exciting as this is my first foray into any serious marketing.  I know it sounds corny and everybody says it whether it’s true or not but I really have felt led to begin getting more serious about my musical career.  Over the past few months I’ve been rebuilding and revamping the studio here in Virginia and have been blessed to have a nice place to put it in (once the renovations are finished).  Right now we are kind of working around the studio equipment renovating the basement but in the end we should have a nice home studio slash practice room slash rec room (I’m not allowed to hog the whole basement ).

So thanks for everyone’s support and I hope you enjoy this release.  My next album is planned for around summer of next year, maybe earlier depending on how things go.

I’ve been looking for a really good digital piano for the studio as I’ve really been leaning towards getting much more serious about music again especially now that the basement renovations we’ve been planning are well underway so I’ve been shopping online, looking around, the same thing everybody does looking for something expensive.  If I was Michael W. Smith or Billy Joel I’d just run out and get a Yamaha C9 or a Steinway or even a Roland V-Piano but compromises need to be made somewhere if money is an issue.

I found what I thought was a good deal at “a certain very popular music store that starts with G” online but when it arrived they clearly had only just turned it on and saw that a few lights worked and called it functional since there were no shipping damages that I could tell and it was reasonably well packed as far as I could tell.  Well it didn’t – at all – but that’s not really my point anyway and in the long run it prompted me to finally say “you know what, this is nuts just try to find a deal on a good quality unit even if it’s a bit pricey and be done with it” and I did and found a fantastic deal on a higher end Yamaha piano on eBay that sounds fantastic with a really great graded hammer action keybed.  What my point is, is the air you seemingly find in every big box music store I’ve ever had the unfortunate necessity to visit.  It seems everyone there is in a panic to sell something and if you’re not there with a hard intent on at least dropping a few Benjamins – and right now, you get the very distinct impression you’re wasting their time.

Why should I buy anything from a brick and mortar store when the service is no better than if I just asked some guy on a forum online and buy whatever I’m looking for from an online store?  For instance I’ll use my situation as an example – this is generic as I’ve dropped way too much cash over the years in music stores and unfortunately have some experience with them.  Say I’m willing to drop a large chunk of cash on a keyboard, money in hand, but I’m not sure exactly what I want and for that kind of cheddar I want to be sure I get what I’m really going to be happy with.  So I go to the local big box music store because they have the best selection, tell them I’m just looking but I’ll probably be back, and I need a little help deciding.  Tell me about this one, let me try that one, let me listen to them on a good quality studio setup like I would have at home, and I’ll make my decision, maybe be back tomorrow.  Don’t hook up some piece of crap guitar practice amp to a couple keyboards that are kind of sort of like what I’m looking for with that “I know you’re not coming back” smirk on your face, and only provide enough service so I’ll eventually leave.  Go in and tell them I’m buying something today, I know exactly what I want, and you’re their best friend for an hour and they’re all smiles.  Of course that situation isn’t just music stores it’s pretty much everywhere.  I will give HH Gregg a shout out as they stood out recently.  We told them straight up a couple years ago we weren’t even sure when we were buying and the guy went through the whole line up of everything we were looking for pointing out things that weren’t just obvious stuff you’d know anyway and you just say “oh really” to be polite.

While I was waiting my wife was looking at acoustic guitars and it was pretty obvious she had no idea what she wanted or even if she wanted anything but we’ve been talking about her getting an acoustic and it might have even been within the realm of possibility with a convincing enough salesman.  At the very least we would have left with every intention of coming back once we did decide.  Not one salesmen even asked her if she needed any help.  I guess unless you’re a rock star looking for a six thousand dollar Gibson, it’s not worth it to get off your fat rear end so you can finish reading your magazine.  This happens so often everywhere and everybody knows exactly what I’m talking about, it kind of reveals our fallen nature and just how sickening it really is.

Compare this to the small music shop where the guy who owns the place is also one of the salesmen.  I’ve been in shops like this and they’ll spend a ridiculous amount of time making sure they know what you’re looking for and that what they have is something you want, and understand that your average working stiff is not going to walk into a store and say “oh that’s nice I’ll take it, oh it’s on sale for $4000?  Okay that’s fine”.  That’s not how it works.  I think I’ll stick to the small shops and online stores from now on.  You know, the ones who actually care about their customers, the ones who know a happy customer is a repeat customer.  Not the ones who sell enough techocrap to wannabe DJs to keep the store open long enough for the occasional rock star who walks in the door to drop seven Gs.